The logjam of veterans out of work after being released for salary-cap purposes began to loosen as training camps opened for all NFL teams this week.

On Thursday alone, offensive tackle Eric Winston and defensive end John Abraham came off the list, both signing with the Arizona Cardinals. Friday began with news that fullback Vonta Leach was close to returning to the team with which he won a Super Bowl, Baltimore.

Abraham, Winston and Leach belong to a group with more in common than well-respected names and a long list of accomplishments. They all discovered, after their release, that they would not come close to the contract length and value they thought they were worth—and that they’d have to wait much longer than they’d anticipated to even find a new home at such cut-rate prices.

They likely all understand the reason, too, and it’s not as football-related as it’s often made out to be. It’s financial, of course—but it has nearly everything to do with the labor agreement that came out of the 2011 lockout.

Because of the restrictions in it, said former agent and team executive Andrew Brandt—now a business analyst for ESPN—“it does seem like players are being squeezed at the beginning and at the end, on the way in and on the way out.”

“At the beginning” refers to the new rookie salary scale, which all but eliminated the Sam Bradford-level signing bonuses and, thus, most of the pre-camp holdouts. On the other end? That’s where Winston, Abraham and Leach stand—as well as Charles Woodson, Richard Seymour, Dwight Freeney and Nnamdi Asomugha.

It also includes Brian Urlacher, who chose to retire rather than settle for so much less from either the Bears, with whom he had played his entire career, or anyone else.

Some had to wait longer than others, and some—Seymour and, for now, Leach—are still waiting. All are taking hits in the wallet and in their security. The irony of this, of course, is that they were the players who were supposed to get the windfall from the slashing of rookie salaries in the new labor deal.

The 29-year-old Winston, for example, had been let go by the Chiefs just one season into a four-year, $22 million contract that was to pay him $4.9 million in 2013. His new deal with the Cardinals reportedly is for one year at the veteran minimum plus incentives.

The 35-year-old Abraham, who was cut by the Falcons after collecting 68.5 of his 122 career sacks for them over seven years, signed a two-year, $6 million deal with Arizona. He made $4.4 million last year, when he had 10 sacks for the team that reached the NFC title game, and was due $5.75 million this year.

Winston gets what’s going on, if his diplomatic comments on Sirius XM radio are any indication.

“I’m kind of going into this wide-eyed and knowing that I have to go and compete and win another spot like I have the last seven years,” said Winston, who had experienced the same salary-cap dump a year earlier with the Texans after six years there. “That’s just the way my mindset is and that’s kind of the way I always approach it, no matter what my contract’s always been or the stipulations have been.’’

Woodson, 36, the future Hall of Fame defensive back cut by the Packers in February, signed with the Raiders in May—for one year at a reported $4.3 million, down from the $6.5 million he had been due each of the next two seasons. Asomugha, 32, let go by Philadelphia two years into a five-year, $60-million contract, had to wait only three weeks before signing with the 49ers in April but ended up with a one-year, incentive-laden deal.

Leach (on the books for $4.3 million) and the Ravens couldn’t agree on a restructured contract, so the 31-year-old three-time All-Pro was cut last month—and has been essentially teased by the Dolphins and, to a lesser extent, the Ravens ever since.

Freeney, 33, who was scheduled to make $14 million with the Colts in 2013, was cut by the team in February after 11 years; he didn’t find a home until May, when the Chargers signed him to a two-year contract full of incentives. He took the harshest view of this offseason for himself and his mates.

"I basically think the owners got together and decided not to spend the cash on free agents," Freeney told CBSSports.com at the time. "I definitely think that's part of it. I think the owners made a pact. There's only 32 of them, and none of them broke ranks. I think they all decided not to spend money."

While not buying into the conspiracy theory, Tony Agnone, Abraham’s agent, did wonder why it was so easy for teams to disregard veterans this offseason—especially since, in doing so, they discounted how productive elite players over 30 have been in recent years, as well as the experience and leadership championship contenders can’t win without.

“I can’t think of more than three guys that got paid, except the quarterbacks,” Agnone said.

That has made for another irony—the leaguewide resistance to the Freeneys and Seymours, compared to the four quarterbacks who have received nine-figure extensions just this offseason. The teams that sent Leach, Woodson and Abraham packing happened to be among the ones rewarding their quarterbacks: respectively, Joe Flacco, Aaron Rodgers and Matt Ryan.